Inside Teen Mom Maci Bookout’s son Bentley’s transformation from newborn to TEEN on TV as reality kid turns 13 years old
TEEN Mom Maci Bookout McKinney made her debut on 16 and Pregnant in 2009, opening up her life to the world as she expected her first child.
And ever since Maci’s son Bentley burst onto MTV screens, fans have got to watch him grow up from tiny newborn to teenager.
Bentley, who turns 13 this week, is Maci’s eldest child, who she shares with ex Ryan Edwards.
She also has Maverick, five, and Jayde, six, with husband Taylor McKinney.
Proving just how fast her boy is growing up, Maci, 30, recently opened up about Bentley’s wish to “normalize” therapy for kids after he asked for help in dealing with his relationship with his troubled father Ryan, 33.
Maci boasted about her son in an interview with E! News ahead of World Mental Health Day.
She explained: “We talked about it before we started filming. We asked if it was something that he would even want to film and discuss on camera at all, and I even asked if he cares if Taylor and I discussed it on camera.
“Pretty much from the get-go, he was down to do it. The producer and I made it very clear that anytime he doesn’t want to talk about it, at any time, then he can just say the word.
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“We were constantly checking in on where he stood with his comfort level.”
The young adolescent hopes that his story will inspire other children and encourage them to reach out for help.
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WISE BEYOND HIS YEARS
Maci said: “He made a couple of comments in the discussion about wanting kids to know that it’s normal and it’s very much okay to see a counselor or a therapist.
“He said that if you’re watching me on the show and you think I’m cool because I’m on TV, then I can maybe normalize this for you. I thought it was quite extraordinary for someone his age, but he’s wise beyond his years.”
Viewers watched as the seventh grader refused to see his father until he agreed to go to therapy with him to work on their strained relationship.
Maci revealed that Bentley’s rules still stand as the preteen “isn’t necessarily comfortable” talking to Ryan until they attend therapy together.
She explained that Ryan has had “one or two” phone calls with the counselor adding: “So nothing progressed beyond that.”
Ryan has had a strained relationship with his son due to his on-going battle with drug addiction.
Maci and Ryan have been at odds since they split in 2010, when Bentley was a baby.
HOLDING HOSTAGE
On another episode, Ryan and his wife Mackenzie made comments accusing Maci of holding Bentley hostage from his family.
But Maci claimed that Bentley is still yearning for a relationship with his father’s side of the family – Ryan is also father to Jagger, two, and Stella, 20 months.
“Bentley still wants to see his siblings. He wants to have a relationship with them and his grandparents and stuff. It’s still kind of up in the air at this point, as far as his relationship with Ryan,” said Maci.
She also added that Bentley would be “shocked” if his father supported him at one of his games.
RYAN’S SIDE
In an exclusive interview, Ryan told The Sun his side of the story, claiming that it was Maci who put a halt to therapy sessions he attended with Bentley and suggested he is considering legal action to get more rights to see his son.
Approached in his hometown of Harrison, Tennessee, Ryan told The Sun: “We haven’t seen Bentley for over a month.
“I haven’t seen him, my mom and dad haven’t seen him, nobody has seen him.
“I did go to therapy with Bentley, Maci has kind of put a halt on everything after my dad and Taylor had that argument.”
Ryan is referring to his dad Larry’s heated argument with Maci’s husband, Taylor, on last season’s reunion special.
Following the blowout, The Sun exclusively reported Ryan, Mackenzie and his parents, Jen and Larry, were fired from Teen Mom OG in March.
MACI AND TAYLOR
Maci married Taylor got engaged in January 2016 after four years together and married that October in Greenville, Florida.
Gushing about their relationship, Maci told Us Weekly: “I just love our teamwork. It’s hard to find somebody.
“We both are always willing to help each other and we both get things done; 95 percent of the time, for our lives to be so crazy, it’s actually very calm, in a weird way. So I think our partnership is very, very strong.”
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